Nebraska City, 1866

Nebraska City in 1866 was a bustling center
of freighting activity and westward immigration. Stella (surname
unknown), in a letter written on January 28, 1866, from the Nebraska
City area to her younger sister attempted to give "some
idea of life in these 'Western wilds.'" She described Nebraska
City as "a great point for the 'fitting out' of trains to
cross the plains, one is astonished at the blocks after blocks
of 'Men's Furnishing Goods' 'Fitting out Houses' 'Outfitting
Establishments', etc. And these establishments are wholesale,
nearly all of them. . . . The streets are not filled with carriages
and gay equipages, tho' I saw some elegant turnouts--but there
are huge freight wagons on every street, at every corner, there
are hundreds of oxen and mules attached to them. Often ten yoke
of oxen to a wagon oftener four of mules driven with one line.

"There is heard the lumbering of these
prairie schooners, the bellowing oxen--braying of mules, creeking
of the long lariats which for me is a show of itself to see the
dexterity with which the drivers use them. There is the hollowing,
yelling of teamsters mingled with more oaths than I ever heard
before in all my life together. These are some of the street
scenes one meets in Nebraska City. 'Everybody for himself'. And
the people rush up and down the streets in utter forgetfulness
apparently, of everything but rushing, rushing right on--not
much matter where. The merchants and their clerks seem to care
very little whether customers buy or not--if they have plenty
of time will be polite, will attend to you if not--no matter.
Tell you the prices--you can take the article or let it alone
if you don't like the price--'lump it' to use an elegant phrase.
They don't care--are perfectly independent.

"Speaking of trains, every one has
one or more, usually one wagonmaster, who conducts the whole
concern. These wagonmasters, are almost without exception, gentlemen
of education, men who talk in a quiet gentlemanly manner
to every one, expect to be obeyed by their inferiors and are.
Do not swear, neither when they are about will allow the drivers,
this I say, is the sort of men they are as a general rule--such
being the case there are few 'fusses' among the different trains
that come in contact with each other in crossing the plains."